TIO welcomes regulator action on telco non-compliance

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has welcomed the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) direction to telco Planet ISP to comply with an Ombudsman determination and direction that it refund a consumer $5,115.

The TIO referred Planet ISP to the ACMA in June 2014 when the telco failed to comply with an Ombudsman’s direction to repay a consumer charges incurred after the consumer’s mobile had been stolen while travelling overseas.

The Ombudsman found that Planet ISP failed to act when the consumer reported the theft of the mobile and requested the telco deactivate the SIM. As a result, 92 international calls totalling more than $5,000 were made on the stolen phone.

Planet ISP had direct debited these charges from the consumer’s credit card. While acknowledging its error, it had failed to repay those charges to the consumer.

“The ACMA’s direction reinforces the obligation on every telco to comply with TIO decisions,” Ombudsman Simon Cohen said. “This compliance requirement is an important part of the co-regulatory framework in place in the telecommunications industry.”